Already locked in a back-and-forth game, momentum appeared to be on the Yankees’ side in the ninth inning on Wednesday night.
Anthony Volpe, mired in a defensive slump, had just crushed a game-tying, solo homer off Rays closer Pete Fairbanks, clapping back at the two-run, go-ahead blast that Josh Lowe launched off Devin Williams in the top of the inning. Austin Wells quickly followed with a single, putting the winning run on with one out.
Then the Yankees catcher removed himself from the bases, forgetting how many outs there were after Trent Grisham laid down a bunt. The boneheaded mistake killed the Bombers’ rally, though they ultimately prevailed with a 5-4, 10-inning win.
“I think I was just being an idiot,” Wells said, noting that no one on the Rays tricked him.
Austin Wells gets doubled up because he thought there were three outs pic.twitter.com/Hisfe05Mil
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) July 31, 2025
Wells’ slipup came seconds after Grisham pushed a bunt toward third. With the Rays shifting away from the line, José Caballero made a beautiful barehanded play to nab Grisham at first for the second out of the inning as Wells made his way to second base. But the runner thought Grisham had been bunting with two outs for some reason, and so Wells started walking off second base.
Asked if it’s common for the Yankees to bunt with two outs, Wells replied, “No, that’s why I thought, ‘Oh, ballsy play.’ I liked it. And then when [Grisham] got out and I saw people kind of running towards their dugout, I was like, ‘All right.’”
The Rays immediately realized Wells’ error and got him in a rundown. At that point, there was no escaping the lapse.
“I didn’t know what happened,” Aaron Boone said, as he was checking replay to see if Grisham beat the throw at first. “So when [Wells] came in the dugout, I said, ‘What happened?’ Because I didn’t see the play unfold.
“I mean, what do you say? Can’t happen.”
Boone added that first base coach Travis Chapman relayed how many outs there were to Wells before the TOOTBLAN.
If so, how could that play possibly happen?
“I asked the same thing,” Boone said.
Wells, meanwhile, was asked what was going through his mind as he returned to the Yankees’ dugout.
“Not good things in my brain,” he said. “Very embarrassed and disappointed, for sure. You let the guys down when you do that. You give away an out like that in a big spot, so that’s disappointing, and definitely no good thoughts going on there.”
Fortunately for Wells, the Yankees were able to overcome his mistake and a 10th-inning, go-ahead sac fly from Jonathan Aranda.
The backstop has Jasson Domínguez, Cody Bellinger, Tim Hill and Ryan McMahon to thank for that, among others, as the quartet played pivotal parts late in the game.
Domínguez made a leaping catch into the wall on Aranda’s bases-loaded sac fly, preventing additional runs from scoring. Bellinger, meanwhile, tied the game with an RBI triple in the 10th.
The heavily-used Hill then logged a scoreless 11th despite being penciled in for an off day. That set McMahon up for a walk-off single, ending a chaotic night of baseball in the Bronx.
“That’s just something that we’ve been needing,” a relieved Wells said. “To come back like that was huge.”
Wells is not the first Yankee to make a careless mistake on the bases this season. Rather, it’s been a common occurrence.
The most recent example came in Atlanta immediately after the All-Star break, as Jorbit Vivas was deeked by Braves third baseman Nacho Alvarez Jr. before getting gunned down from deep right field by Ronald Acuña Jr.
There was also a series in Boston back in June that featured multiple baserunning blunders, including a moment that saw Domínguez lose track of a count on Grisham before getting thrown out at third.
The Yankees have insisted they are a better baserunning team this season, as their improved athleticism over the 2024 squad has allowed them to take more bases. But repeated mental breakdowns have cost them plenty of bags while contributing to a -5.4 BsR, Fangraphs’ all-encompassing baserunning stat. That was the fourth-worst mark in the majors entering Wednesday’s game.
The Yankees had baseball’s worst BsR at -17.1 last season, so they’ve technically made strides this season. It just hasn’t always appeared that way, and Wednesday was no exception.
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